Tag Archives: cognitive behavioral therapy

When you get your annual physical, does your primary care physician ask if you’ve been feeling atypically sad or anxious lately?

Primary care doctors are often the first professional a person will tell about symptoms related to depression or other mental health issues. With this in mind, two Pennsylvania counselors have created a presentation on coping skills and takeaways from cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) that medical doctors can use with their patients.

When Brandon Ballantyne and Kevin Ulsh spoke to the primary care physicians and other medical personnel at Tower Health in Reading, Pennsylvania, recently, they found an interested and engaged audience. The medical practitioners were particularly interested in learning more about how to help patients who present with anxiety and related problems during medical appointments.

Ulsh and Ballantyne are mental health therapists in the inpatient and partial hospitalization programs, respectively, at Reading Hospital, which is part of the Tower Health system. Ballantyne is also a licensed professional counselor and American Counseling Association member.

How can aspects of CBT be translated for use in the medical professions? CT Online asked Ulsh and Ballantyne some questions to find out more.

How did this come together? Did you reach out to the doctors, or did they invite you to come?

We have always been interested in the concept of extending coping skills practice and implementation into primary care settings. We believe that the primary care setting is where most individuals first report problems associated with anxiety, stress, depression and so on. In many situations, the primary care physician is the first provider to address such issues.

Recently, we have observed a growing trend to integrate primary care and behavioral health services. We decided to take these observations and build a coping skills lecture that can assist providers in the primary care setting with addressing stress and anxiety, along with other mood-related problems with the patients they serve. We developed an outline for a presentation and broadcast the idea to the primary care Tower Health continuing education team, who then gave us an invitation to present it as a part of their lecture series.

How did it go? Were the doctors open to your message? What were some of the things they asked or commented about?

The lecture went well. The doctors in attendance were attentive and interested. They asked several questions about how to address behaviors particularly associated with adolescent anxiety such as school avoidance and oppositional defiance. We addressed these questions by referring back to the cognitive model, which we highlighted as a foundation of our lecture.

We think it was important to have a discussion with the doctors about the clinical indicators of avoidance versus defiance. Utilizing a cognitive philosophy, we emphasized that avoidance typically shows itself as a behavior which prevents an individual from doing something that they would like to be able to do or would want to be able to do if not affected by anxiety. The anxiety that drives avoidance is typically a product of some anticipated fear. … The individual has cognitively come to the conclusion that the fear itself is an already established fact or guarantee.

Defiance, on the other hand, is a behavior that is driven by the desire to maintain control by resisting demands and expectations to comply with things that are simply undesirable. In other words, in the cognitive process that drives defiance, an individual may think, “If I don’t like it or don’t want to do it, then I don’t have to, and it doesn’t matter what anyone says.”

Therefore, primary care physicians may be able to get a better handle on what it going on with the patient, clinically, simply by asking about their thinking.

From your perspective, how could CBT be helpful in a medical setting? Please talk about why you chose to focus on CBT when you spoke to the doctors.

We chose to focus on cognitive behavior therapy when providing this lecture because CBT is an evidence-based approach that has been shown to be an effective form of treatment for multiple psychological problems across various populations. We believe that in the primary care settings, patients will benefit most from socialization to the cognitive model, so that they can gain a clear understanding of the difference between a thought and an emotion.

Once an individual understands the relationship between a thought, an emotion and a behavior, they acquire control over regulating their mood and reactions in a positive way. CBT-based skills are goal-oriented, problem-focused and able to be introduced and taught to individuals dealing with a wide range of psychological problems.

In the fast-paced primary care setting, brief psychological education and skills practice can be a piece of the treatment puzzle that not only addresses the emotional problems of the patient, but also offers skills that they can continue to utilize and benefit from outside of the office (such as deep breathing, sleep hygiene, behavioral activation, disputing cognitive distortions, thought journals, activity scheduling, etc.).

From your perspective, what are the benefits to this kind of collaboration? In other words, benefits not only for the professionals involved, but for the patients/clients too.

There are multiple benefits to this kind of collaboration. We believe that in most cases, the first call that patients make when they are not feeling well is to their family doctor. On some occasions, they are being seen by their family doctor for a physical health issue. However, in the midst of assessment, they may reveal an emotional problem or talk about a significant stressor that is causing psychological distress.

This is because for the most part, individuals attend treatment with a primary care doctor whom they trust. Maybe they have been seeing this doctor for most of their life. They have learned to confide in this doctor quite often. Therefore, they may be more open to acknowledging emotional problems within that office setting.

The type of collaboration that we facilitated reinforces the importance of integrating psychological education and coping skills practice into a primary care setting. For professionals, it improves the continuum of care and reduces the stigma of mental health problems. Ongoing behavioral health collaboration, and having a behavioral health component to primary care treatment, implies that psychological distress is a natural area of assessment which patients might otherwise be hesitant to acknowledge or discuss. In this way, patients can become more open to behavioral health support and more accepting of their need to seek outpatient therapy to further resolve symptoms.

What advice or tips would you give to counselors who might want to collaborate with medical professionals, like you did, in their local area?

We would suggest that mental health professionals in all parts of the country consider developing a presentation on one particular area of therapy and/or psychological education that you feel passionate about [and] which you also utilize with the clients you serve. The goal is to develop a component of that theoretical orientation that is applicable to a primary care setting. It has to be something that primary care physicians can utilize within the short amount of time that they have with their patients.

We found that in our lecture, doctors were most interested in the practical applications of CBT as it pertains to the acute management of anxiety. We assume that other helpful topics may be closely related to dialectical behavior therapy [and] concepts such as mindfulness, distress tolerance and opposite action.

Is this something you think that counselors could or should do more of? What did you learn through this process?

As a result of providing this lecture, we learned that primary care doctors are very much interested in behavioral health support and assistance. It seems as though there has been an increase of patients presenting to family physicians with emotional problems. The doctors that we spoke with were very thankful for the background on CBT and the skills practice that we provided. In fact, they practiced some of the skills with us.

It reminded us that regardless of the [health] profession, we all will be most effective [with] our patients if we are also taking good care of ourselves. Integrating behavioral health support, psychological education and coping skills practice into a primary care setting reinforces the importance of seamless multidimensional treatment, ultimately helping patients to receive effective care that addresses their physical and emotional needs, and offers the safety to accept the behavioral health treatment that they may otherwise be hesitant to pursue.

Holistic care, or the integration of primary and behavioral health care along with other health care services, is becoming more common. In my experience as a mental health and chemical dependency counselor in an integrated care site, I have come to value the benefits that such wraparound services offer.

I now have the opportunity to consult with primary care providers, medication-assisted treatment providers, dentists, early childhood behavioral health providers and our county’s Women, Infants and Children team about their perspectives and hopes for clients. Every client has a treatment team, and each team member is only a few feet from my office door. I quickly realized the significant positive impact that close-quarters interdisciplinary collaboration has for many clients, and particularly those receiving medication-assisted treatment (MAT) and counseling services for substance use disorders.

MAT is a treatment model that lends itself to the integrated care setting. As described by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), MAT is the use of prescribed medications with concurrent counseling and behavioral therapies to treat substance use disorders. MAT is used in the treatment of opioid, alcohol and tobacco use disorders. The medications, which are approved by the Food and Drug Administration, normalize brain chemistry to relieve withdrawal symptoms and reduce cravings. MAT is not the substitution of one drug for another. When medications in MAT are used appropriately, they have no adverse effects on a person’s mental or physical functioning.

Medications used in MAT for alcohol use disorder include disulfiram, acamprosate and naltrexone. Those used for tobacco use disorders include bupropion, varenicline and over-the-counter nicotine replacement therapies. Medications used in MAT for opioid use disorders include methadone, buprenorphine and naltrexone — each of which must be dispensed through a SAMHSA-certified provider. Naltrexone is the only medication of the three that does not have the potential to be abused. Federal law mandates that those receiving MAT for opioid use disorder also receive concurrent counseling.

Embracing the advantages of integrated care

The combination of medication and therapy offers a holistic approach to treatment that is easily implemented in integrated care settings. The hope offered by the integration of services is embodied in an extraordinary case involving one of my clients who relapsed and arrived to counseling intoxicated, holding their chest. I was able to immediately consult with the client’s MAT provider, who ruled out the physical causes of chest pain after performing an electrocardiogram. Within 30 minutes, I was able to proceed with de-escalation of the client’s panic attack. The MAT provider educated the client on the next steps for care and on the dangers of using substances while taking MAT medications.

In a nonintegrated site, my only recourse would have been calling an ambulance for the client and a long wait at the hospital emergency room — and possibly a client who discontinued services. It is heartening when I can instead walk a client with symptoms of withdrawal across the hallway to the MAT provider or primary care provider, who can in turn offer targeted expert medical advice and medications to alleviate the symptoms.

Despite the substantial advantages that integrated care offers, however, most mental health and chemical dependency counselors are not adequately trained to provide effective counseling in integrated care settings for substance use disorders. In my experience, clients have better outcomes when receiving counseling services in conjunction with MAT. MAT alone can be effective, but the underlying thoughts and emotions that perpetuate use are not addressed unless concurrent counseling services are offered.

Although individual counseling is valuable, I am focusing on group counseling in this article because it offers similar benefits to individual counseling and is typically more cost-effective. In addition, TIP No. 43 notes that group counseling in MAT programs reduces feelings of isolation, involves feedback and accountability from peers, and enhances social skills training.

Resources for group counseling with MAT clients, or group counseling in integrated care settings, may not be easily accessible to many counselors-in-training or to practicing counselors. My goal is to share tips and resources with mental health and chemical dependency counselors that may be helpful in enhancing group counseling services for clients receiving MAT in integrated care settings. These tips and resources may also be useful to those providing group counseling services to MAT clients in settings that do not offer integrated care.

Tips and resources

1) Holistic education: MAT and integrated care are relatively new concepts for counselors, and we are still adapting. If it is new for us, it is new for our clients too. In the initial sessions of psychoeducational or process groups, the inclusion of education about MAT, the benefits of counseling in conjunction with MAT, and treatment in integrated care settings is essential.

Having access to a range of service providers is a benefit that clients should understand and utilize. Treatment team members can speak to the group about their role in client care and how their role may relate to the counseling group. For example, a dentist might help with appearance and self-esteem issues; an early childhood care provider might help the children of clients process situations arising from parental drug use; a primary care or MAT provider might link the client with hepatitis C treatment in addition to MAT. Such education can answer many questions that the group may have and help clients benefit from quality holistic care.

2) Dual licensure and continuing education: Many chemical dependency counselors refer out to mental health counselors and vice versa. In integrated care, it is ideal for counselors to be dually licensed. Dual licensure and training can assist counselors in identifying and addressing a variety of dynamics that may arise in group counseling with MAT clients.

For example, one client might have major depressive disorder and be using MAT for alcohol recovery, whereas another client might have symptoms of mania and be receiving MAT for opioid recovery. The way that counselors assist these clients may differ based on their knowledge of mental health diagnoses and the substance being used. Furthermore, counselors who are knowledgeable about these differing yet comorbid disorders will be better equipped to provide education to the group about the individualized and shared experiences of each member in recovery.

Some states have a combined mental health and chemical dependency counseling licensure board, whereas others have separate licensing boards. For more information about licensure, contact your state boards. If dual licensure is not plausible or desirable, I strongly recommended seeking continuing education in both mental health and chemical dependency counseling, as well as their relation to MAT.

3) Cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) and solution-focused brief therapy (SFBT) techniques: According to SAMHSA’s webpage about medication and counseling treatment, by definition, MAT includes counseling and behavioral strategies. The combination of MAT with these strategies can successfully treat substance use disorders.

One of SAMHSA’s recommended therapies is CBT, an evidence-based practice that has been shown time and time again to be effective in the treatment of substance use disorders. In an extensive review of the literature about the efficacy of using CBT for substance use disorders, R. Kathryn McHugh, Bridget A. Hearon and Michael W. Otto (2010) outlined a variety of interventions shown to be effective in addressing substance use disorders in both individual and group counseling. Those interventions included motivational interviewing, contingency management, relapse prevention interventions and combined treatment strategies.

Combined treatment refers to the use of CBT alongside pharmacotherapy, which includes MAT. Although some studies the authors reviewed indicated that MAT alone could be effective in treating substance use disorders, others demonstrated that combined treatment was most effective. Given SAMHSA’s recommendation, the literature review and my own personal experience, I believe that CBT may best benefit a group of MAT clients with substance use disorders in an integrated care setting.

Although CBT is suitable, I have learned that integrated care sites are much more fast-paced than the typical behavioral health counseling agency. Primary care and MAT appointments are as short as 15 minutes. In my work with our on-site behavioral health consultant, I noticed her quick and effective use of SFBT with individual clients. Although there is some research discussing the use and efficacy of SFBT in the treatment of substance use disorders, there is little information about using SFBT in groups with MAT clients in integrated care. This is a much-needed area for future research.

4) SAMHSA: SAMHSA has been mentioned various times throughout this article. That is a tribute to the value I place on the agency’s importance and usefulness. SAMHSA, in my opinion, is the best resource for exploring ways to enhance groups for clients receiving MAT. SAMHSA offers educational resources about a variety of substance use disorders; forms of MAT for different substances; comorbidities; and evidence-based behavioral health practices. SAMHSA is up to date, provides a variety of free resources for counselors and other professionals, and also has information about integrated care for professionals and clients.

According to SAMHSA’s TIP No. 43, groups commonly used with MAT clients include psychoeducational, skill development, cognitive behavioral and support groups. Suggested topics for individual counseling with MAT clients, which easily can be translated to group format, include feelings about coping with cravings and a changing lifestyle; how to identify and manage emergencies; creating reasonable goals; reviewing goal progress; processing legal concerns and how to report a problem; and exploring family concerns. Visit SAMHSA’s website (samhsa.gov) to enter a world of helpful information and resources for both personal professional development and client development.

5) Professional counseling organizations: Whereas SAMHSA offers information about substance use disorders, comorbidities, MAT, and individual and group counseling, the counseling profession’s codes of ethics and practice documents are crucial to the ethical provision of group counseling in this challenging field. Among the resources to consider are the 2014 ACA Code of Ethics, the Association for Specialists in Group Work(ASGW) Best Practice Guidelines (which clarify application of the ACA Code of Ethics to the field of group work)and the Association for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Issues in Counseling’s (ALGBTIC’s) competencies for providing group counseling to LGBT clients.ASGW also has practical resources to augment your group counseling skills through its Group Work Experts Share Their Favorite Activities series. Combining these resources with information acquired from SAMHSA and the tips in this article should prove helpful in designing and running effective groups for clients in MAT in integrated care settings.

Conclusion

As integrated care becomes more widespread, counselors must adapt their practice of counseling to the environment and to the full range of client needs. It is a counselor’s duty to utilize the benefits that integrated care has to offer, such as immediate and continual collaboration with treatment team members.

For clients in MAT, group counseling in integrated care can provide a multitude of benefits, including the opportunity to learn from each treatment team member, the opportunity to build community in the journey to recovery and accountability. To enhance group counseling in these settings, counselors might consider:

Including education from each service provider in the early stages of the group

Seeking dual licensure or relevant continuing education opportunities

Implementing theories that are suitable for the client issue and the setting

Using resources made available by SAMHSA and professional counseling organization such as ACA, ASGW and ALGBTIC

Implementing these tips and resources will result in a fresh and efficient group counseling experience for clients in MAT in integrated care settings.

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Stephanie Maccombsis a second-year doctoral student in the counselor education and supervision program at Ohio University. She is a licensed professional counselor and chemical dependency counselor assistant in Ohio. She has worked as a home-based addiction counselor and currently works in a federally qualified health center providing mental health and chemical dependency counseling services to adults participating in medication-assisted treatment. Contact her at sm846811@ohio.edu.

Counseling Today reviews unsolicited articles written by American Counseling Association members. To access writing guidelines and tips for having an article accepted for publication, go to ct.counseling.org/feedback.

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Opinions expressed and statements made in articles appearing on CT Online should not be assumed to represent the opinions of the editors or policies of the American Counseling Association.

We all have our biases — but just because bias is a universal part of the human experience doesn’t mean it is something we should ever dismiss offhandedly, either in ourselves or others. That’s because bias has serious consequences, and when left unchecked, it can turn into bullying. A 2012 study of California middle and high school students published in the American Journal of Public Health found that 75 percent of all bullying originated from some type of bias against a person’s race, sexual orientation, religion, disability or other personal characteristic.

People often talk about bullying in general terms. But as Anneliese Singh, a professor of counseling and associate dean for the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at the University of Georgia, points out, “If you look more closely at ‘general bullying,’ what you’ll see is a lot of bias-based bullying.”

SeriaShia Chatters-Smith, an assistant professor of counselor education and coordinator of the clinical mental health counseling in schools and communities program at the Pennsylvania State University, defines bias-based bullying as bullying that is specifically based on an individual’s identifying characteristics, such as race/ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation or weight. For example, adolescents might create Snapchat stories that attack someone on the basis of their race, weight or sexual orientation, and parents or teachers might treat children differently on the basis of their skin color, notes Chatters-Smith, an ACA member who presented on “Bullying Among Diverse Populations” at the ACA 2017 Conference & Expo in San Francisco. Research indicates that individuals of color, particularly black and Hispanic men, are more likely to be identified as being aggressive, she adds.

In her research on transgender people, Singh, who co-founded the Georgia Safe Schools Coalition and founded the Trans Resilience Project, has found that bias-based bullying can be based on appearance, gender expression or gender identity, and it can range from name-calling to physical and sexual harassment and assault.

A four-letter word

When people start talking about someone having a bias, those four letters typically trigger a negative reaction and shut down conversation, which isn’t productive. Thus, Chatters-Smith argues that helping people understand that everyone has biases is crucial to addressing bias-based bullying.

However, this task can be difficult because people often resist closely exploring their own prejudices. Counselors should help clients realize that just because everyone has biases doesn’t mean they are excused from recognizing and addressing their own, Chatters-Smith argues.

Because bias is often an emotionally charged topic, Chatters-Smith finds it helpful to start with a nonthreatening example. After pointing out bias, she asks clients when they first identified something as their favorite color. Most people can’t remember when this color preference started because they were young, Chatters-Smith says. She explains how after someone establishes a color preference, the brain starts to sort things by that color.

“When you see something that is your favorite color, you are more likely to gravitate toward it. You have more positive feelings toward cars that are your favorite color. … And sometimes a car may not be the best-looking car, but because it’s our favorite color, we gravitate toward it. That is bias,” Chatters-Smith explains.

Bias is a kind of sorting process that our brain goes through, she continues. “The experiences that we have with individuals can then cause us to have specific attitudes toward someone, and when we see them, we prejudge that they are going to act or be a certain way because of those experiences. … We do an automatic sort.”

Counselors are not immune to bias either. For example, a counselor might assume that a black male client who is unemployed did something to cause his unemployment, Chatters-Smith says. If this happens, the counselor needs to take a step back and ask why he or she is entertaining that assumption, she continues.

These internalized biases can also have a direct effect on students. For example, Singh says, LGBTQ students will not feel safe reporting bias-based bullying by their peers when they hear educators or school counselors expressing anti-queer or anti-trans views. Educators can also hold bias against students in special education, which may limit the opportunities those students have to learn, she adds.

Singh, an American Counseling Association member and licensed professional clinical counselor in Georgia, finds cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) helpful because challenging irrational thoughts is at the heart of addressing bias-based bullying. Thus, counselors need to ask clients and themselves some CBT-related questions: Where did you learn this thought? What research supports this idea?

Counselors “have to become strong advocates in order to interrupt those beliefs systems because the person enacting them — whether or not they’re conscious [of it] — isn’t going to stop until there’s an advocacy intervention,” Singh says.

After making clients (or educators) aware of bias, counselors can work with them to figure out times that they might have sorted a person into a category before getting to know that person and then brainstorm ways to manage that differently in the future.

Counselors can also benefit from bias-based bullying training. In working with Stand for State, a bystander intervention program at Penn State, Chatters-Smith found that certain questions or situations related to bias would cause the counselors participating in the bias-based education to pause or stumble. “A person who is not educated to know [how to respond] can get really thrown off guard,” she says.

Chatters-Smith knows from experience. Once in a workshop, she mentioned how saying that all Jewish people are good with money is an example of a racially charged joke. One of the participants responded, “But all Jewish people are good with money.”

Chatters-Smith questioned this statement by asking, “Really? All Jewish people? Where does this stereotype come from? Is this a racially based stereotype that is meant in a negative way?”

“One of the most damaging things that can happen in [a] workshop is if a bias educator is perpetuating bias,” Chatters-Smith contends. This experience helped her realize that the trainers themselves needed training to be effective at bias and discrimination education. She is currently developing workshops and a workbook that will allow counselors to practice answering questions and go through specific scenarios related to bias-based bullying to help them gain confidence and knowledge in handling these challenging situations.

Uncovering bias

A counselor’s role is to interrupt the systems of bias-based bullying, Singh argues. This process starts with the intake assessment, which should clearly define what bias-based bullying is and provide examples, she continues.

Counselors need to ask upfront questions about bias and harassment in counseling to let clients know that these issues exist and that they affect mental health, Chatters-Smith says. The best way to know if it is happening is to ask, she adds.

Of course, when assessing clients, counselors can also be alert to signs that bias-based bullying may be occurring. Anxiety or fear of being bullied may cause younger children to wet their beds at certain times of the year (right before school starts, for example) or to avoid public bathrooms, Chatters-Smith notes. She advises school counselors to pay close attention to the dynamics between students in the cafeteria. “A child can be sitting at a table full of kids because they don’t want to sit alone, but no one is interacting with them. No one is talking to them. They’re purposely being excluded,” she says.

Singh and Chatters-Smith also urge counselors to watch for signs of depression or anxiety, client withdrawal, client complaints that are not tied to anything specific, chronic tardiness, or changes in client behavior such as nervousness, avoiding school or sessions, or missing certain classes.

Counselors should exercise the same level of vigilance with young adult and adult clients. Chatters-Smith finds that counselors often fail to factor in the isolation, feeling of being ostracized and lack of belonging that some minority college students experience at predominantly white institutions. Counselors “know all of [these factors] impact mental health from [the] K-12 research of bullying but seem to forget about it when people graduate from high school,” she argues.

In addition, counselors often “do not factor in the cultural pieces of experiencing bias-based bullying at work. It manifests itself differently,” Chatters-Smith says. For example, individuals may go on short-term or long-term disability, or bullying may result in harassment claims or absenteeism from work. In certain instances, clients may not be able to put a finger on the core issue causing them not to enjoy the workplace, or they find that for some unknown reason, they can’t please a co-worker or employer, she says.

Sometimes, clients don’t even recognize that bias-based bullying could be an issue until the counselor brings it up, Chatters-Smith adds. Thus, she advises counselors to ask questions such as “Have you experienced any prejudice or discrimination at work?” or “Do you have increased anxiety around yearly evaluations for work?”

“In any organization that has built-in hierarchies, bullying [is likely] to occur,” Chatters-Smith says. For example, in the military, transgender individuals still face discrimination, and often discrimination is based on race or socioeconomic status, such as enlisted individuals versus officers who require a college education and receive more money and leadership positions, she explains.

Avoiding assumptions

When people are introduced to the concept of bias-based bullying, they often assume that it involves someone from a dominant group bullying someone from an oppressed group. “When you think about bias-based bullying, typically people are going to gravitate toward majority [versus] minority … but at the same time, it can happen within group,” points out Cassandra Storlie, an assistant professor of counselor education and supervision at Kent State University. She cautions counselors not to overlook the possibility of intracultural bullying because it does happen. For example, a Latino child may bully another Latino child because that child doesn’t speak Spanish, or an individual may bully someone else of the same ethnicity because that person’s skin color is judged to be “too dark” or “too light.”

Just because someone is oppressed does not mean that they can’t be oppressing others, Chatters-Smith emphasizes. “For centuries … African Americans have bullied each other based on darker complexion versus lighter complexion, and the same thing happens in Latino and Hispanic groups as well,” she says. “What makes it identity based and bias based is because there are biases that come along with the perspectives of individuals who are of darker skin. Even though it’s within a specific racial category, the bias is still there, and then the individual still has the psychological impact because they’re being bullied just for who they are.”

In addition, although people of color have a higher likelihood of being bullied in predominantly white settings, bias-based bullying can still occur when they are in settings with higher diversity, Chatters-Smith notes. The bias may just take another form and be based on characteristics other than race, such as sexual orientation, she explains.

Within transgender communities, someone who is more binary identified and operates with certain gender stereotypes may discriminate against another transgender person for not looking enough like a woman or a man, says Singh, a past president of both the Southern Association for Counselor Education and Supervision and the Association for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Issues in Counseling. Within-group bullying is particularly painful to the individuals who experience it because the group is supposed to be their source of support and belonging, she says.

Singh also points out that bias-based bullying can be targeted at anyone based on how he or she is perceived. “If they’re perceived to step out of a gender or sexual orientation box, even if they don’t have that identity, they may experience [bias-based bullying].” In fact, Singh says, a substantial amount of anti-queer and anti-trans bullying is actually experienced by cisgender and straight people.

Creating a positive, safe environment

“Ethnic identities are strong protective factors,” says Storlie, president-elect of the North Central Association for Counselor Education and Supervision. She encourages counselors to find ways to celebrate cultures and differences. If counselors are practicing in a school district or community that isn’t taking preventative measures against bias-based bullying and being inclusive and advocating for all students, then they need to take initiative and educate those communities, Storlie says.

One approach that Storlie, an ACA member and a licensed professional counselor with supervisory designation in Ohio, suggests is to mention how diverse populations are increasing. In fact, according to the National Center for Education Statistics, the percentage of white students enrolled in public elementary and secondary schools decreased to less than 50 percent in 2014, while minority students (black, Hispanic, Asian, Pacific Islander, American Indian/Alaska Native and those of two or more races) made up at least 75 percent of the total enrollment in approximately 30 percent of these schools.

Storlie works with a school district that has Ohio’s second-highest number of students who speakEnglish as a second language. Roughly 50 percent of the student body is Latino — up from approximately 2 percent only two decades ago.

When Storlie first walked into the school district, she couldn’t find any Spanish on the walls of the schools or in school materials, but since she started working with the educators and teachers, all of the school district’s documents are translated. “If you’re handing this information out to students … you’ve got to make sure it’s in the right language,” she argues.

Schools are in transition now because of increased diversity, Storlie notes. “It’s happening across the country where teachers don’t look like the kids that they’re teaching anymore, and they have stereotypes that can be pervasive,” she observes. Thus, counselors need to work with educators and communities to ensure that they are being inclusive.

Storlie advises counselors to facilitate events such as English classes for parents whose first language is not English to improve communication between teachers and parents, and workshops to educate parents, school personnel and the community on bias-based bullying. Counselors might also provide workshops for school personnel on multicultural competency, she says.

The Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s Welcoming Schools program is one helpful resource, Chatters-Smith says. The program provides training and resources such as recommended books, lesson plans and videos to school educators to help them create inclusive, supportive school environments and aid them in preventing bias-based bullying.

Building strong relationships

Storlie has found that teachers and school personnel who instill hope in their students — regardless of any identifying characteristic — have the best outcomes. These students often have higher levels of school engagement, demonstrate greater resilience and enjoy more academic success.

The therapeutic relationship can play a central role in instilling hope and achieving these positive outcomes, Storlie argues. For that reason, she adds, counselors shouldn’t become so focused on theories and techniques that they forget what it means to foster a good relationship with their clients. Among individuals who have been oppressed or marginalized, there is often an “us versus them” attitude, so the challenge for counselors is finding a way to reconnect and develop the relationship, Storlie says.

Trust is one key component of building a strong relationship with clients. However, Chatters-Smith has found that adults don’t always trust children’s reports of bias and discrimination. In her private practice, Chatters-Smith often works with children of color who report that no one believes them when they complain about bias-based bullying. Over time, this disbelief can result in their silence. Thus, she emphasizes, it is crucial that counselors believe children when they report having experienced bias-based bullying and discrimination.

In addition, Storlie stresses the importance of taking a team approach to bias-based bullying. “You can’t do it solo. … You really have to have the team approach because that’s how change happens,” she says. This is especially true for school counselors confronted with high student-to-counselor ratios, she adds.

When school counselors notice bias-based bullying in their schools, they should connect with other leaders in the school district and position themselves as a part of the leadership team, Storlie advises. Then, in this leadership position, counselors can educate school personnel on warning signs and interventions for bias-based bullying, thereby creating a team approach to intervening, she explains.

School counselors should also strive to work with families to address bias-based bullying. Because family members’ work schedules may not coincide with school system hours, counselors might have to get creative to find ways to reach families, Storlie continues. “School counselors who stay in their offices are not going to be able to reach families the same way that … [counselors] doing outreach with families would,” she adds.

In Storlie’s work with undocumented Latino youth, she found that the school counselors who were present, who made a point of getting out of their offices and who were visible to parents — for example, showing up at basketball games after school hours — enjoyed the most effective relationships with families and students. Their students were also more receptive to looking ahead and thinking about their future careers, she adds.

Bystander intervention

“What hurts [children] typically is not specifically the bullying itself. What hurts them is the other children around who stand and watch it happen,” Chatters-Smith asserts. The inaction and silence of bystanders causes people who are bullied to feel depressed and isolated, and it feeds into dysfunctional thinking that they are not good enough and no one cares about them, she adds.

In workshops, Chatters-Smith uses an active witnessing program to train people how to respond to discrimination and bias. Because bias-based bullying is often verbal, onlookers can state that they disagree with what is being said and question the validity of the biased comment, she elaborates. Bystanders can also support the person being bullied by telling them they are not alone or calling for help, she says.

Bystanders can also help people who commit the offense to self-reflect by asking them to repeat what they said and letting them know that it was hurtful, Chatters-Smith continues. If a bystander doesn’t feel safe to intervene at the time of the incident, they can later call a manager (if the bullying incident happened in an establishment or organization) or notify someone about what they witnessed, she advises.

Chatters-Smith has also used ABC’s What Would You Do? — a hidden-camera TV program that acts out scenes of conflict to see if bystanders intervene — in her workshops. She plays the scenarios from the show but not the bystanders’ reactions. Instead, she has workshop participants use the skills they have learned in the workshop to see how they would respond.

The more aware counselors become of bias, prejudice and discrimination in their day-to-day lives, the more it will affect them in their work with clients, Chatters-Smith says. “Practice is what helps us move forward as individuals,” she explains. “When you are at the store, when you are eating in a restaurant, when you are in the mall, when you see these things happening, if you feel [like you] know what to do, you’ll become more aware of what it is and you’ll feel more confident at not only being able to intervene and be empowered in your everyday life but also being able to talk to your clients about their experiences.”

Storlie and Singh both tout training student leaders as an effective approach to preventing bias-based bullying. Often, students — not counselors — are the ones who hear about or witness these instances of bullying. So, counselors can work with these student leader groups to teach them how to intervene, Storlie says.

Another way to create a team approach to bias-based bullying intervention is through the use of popular opinion leaders, Singh says. With this approach, school counselors and teachers nominate student leaders who represent different groups in the school (à la The Breakfast Club). With the counselor’s guidance, these students discuss bias-based bullying, what they’ve noticed and how they might be able to change it. Then, after learning bias-based bullying interventions, the popular opinion leaders try them out and report on which ones worked and which ones didn’t, Singh explains.

An ongoing issue

Singh warns of the danger of minimalizing bias-based bullying — such as saying that people “don’t mean it” — because it sends a message that it is OK to have bias. Comments that dismiss bias-based bullying “can really add up over time in the form of microaggressions for transgender people,” she argues. “But, more importantly, [these comments create] a hostile environment in society, and that hostile environment in society can set transgender people up for experiencing violence.”

“When children grow up in an environment where they are taught implicit and explicit messages about whose identities matter and whose don’t, and then there’s power attached to that, then you’re going to see those negative health outcomes,” Singh argues. “And they’re not just negative health outcomes and disparities. They’re verbal, physical and sexual harassment that play out across people’s bodies and communities. Those microaggressions add up to macroaggressions on a larger scale.”

Apologizing isn’t the answer either. Often, people who bully, commit a microaggression or say something prejudiced will apologize by saying that they didn’t intend it that way, Chatters-Smith says. “It’s not intent that matters. It’s impact. … Whether or not you intended it, it doesn’t matter. It hurt the person.”

One possible solution is to start bias education at a young age so that over the life span, people are more aware of bias-based bullying and discrimination, Singh says. Counselors can challenge the internalized stereotypes that people learn in society about themselves and others and counter those biased messages with real-life experiences and compassion, she adds.

Education and awareness are key because bias-based bullying is an ongoing issue. “[Bias] is not going to go away. … People are going to find a way to treat each other differently. I think that what will change is more and more people not accepting it,” Chatters-Smith says.

This past spring, social media revealed another case of discrimination when two black men who were waiting for a friend were arrested at a Starbucks in Philadelphia on suspicion of trespassing. The incident might have received little notice except that a white woman posted a video of the arrest on Twitter and challenged the injustice, which prompted protests. Starbucks responded by apologizing and announcing that it would close thousands of stores for an afternoon to conduct racial bias training in May.

Even though this injustice never should have occurred, the public outcry sent a message that these two men were not alone and that bias is not acceptable, Chatters-Smith says. “The intervention is what’s going to change [things],” she says. “If we have more eyes on it, hopefully we can reduce the impact and reduce the duration and the longevity of the impact of these instances.”

Chatters-Smith, Singh and Storlie all agree that counselors have an important role to play in educating people about bias and building strong partnerships between educators, parents, students and communities. “[Counselors] are in the business of helping people challenge inaccurate, internalized thoughts,” Singh points out. “Counselors have to challenge those thoughts and help rebuild beliefs systems that include the value of a wide variety of social identities.”

By the time the 43-year-old man, a victim of an industrial accident, limped into American Counseling Association member David Engstrom’s office, he’d been experiencing lower back pain for 10 years and taking OxyContin for six. The client, whose pain was written in the grimace on his face as he sat down, was a referral from a local orthopedic surgeon, who was concerned about the man’s rapidly increasing tolerance to the drug.

“He often took twice the prescribed dose, and the effect on his pain was diminishing,” says Engstrom, a health psychologist who works in integrated care centers.

The man’s story is, unfortunately, not unusual. According to the National Institutes of Health, 8 out of 10 adults will experience lower back pain at some point in their lives. As the more than 76 million baby boomers continue to age, many of them will increasingly face the aches and pains that come with chronic health issues. And as professional counselors are aware, mental health issues such as depression, anxiety and addiction can also cause or heighten physical pain.

Those who suffer from chronic pain are often in desperate need of some succor, but in many cases, prescription drug treatments or surgery may be ineffective or undesirable. Fortunately, professional counselors can often help provide some relief.

Treating chronic pain

At first, the client had only one question for Engstrom: “I’m not crazy, so why am I here?”

Although the man’s physician did not think that the pain was all in the man’s head, it is not uncommon for sufferers of chronic pain to encounter skepticism about what they are experiencing. “It was important … to defuse the idea that I might think he was imagining his pain,” Engstrom says. “So I [told him] that I accepted that his pain was real and that all pain is experienced from both body and mind. I told him that we would be a team and work on this together.”

Engstrom and the client worked together for five months. As they followed the treatment plan, the man’s physician slowly eased him off of the OxyContin.

Engstrom began by teaching the client relaxation exercises such as progressive muscle relaxation. “When in pain, the natural inclination of the body is to contract muscles,” Engstrom explains. “In the long term, this reduces blood flow to the painful area and slows the healing process. Contracted muscles can be a direct source of pain.”

Engstrom also began using biofeedback to promote further relaxation. In biofeedback sessions, sensors are attached to the body and connected to a monitoring device that measures bodily functions such as breathing, perspiration, skin temperature, blood pressure, muscle tension and heartbeat.

“When you relax, clear your mind and breathe deeply, your breathing slows and your heart rate dips correspondingly,” Engstrom explains. “As the signals change on the monitors, you begin to learn how to consciously control body functions that are normally unconscious. For many clients, this sense of control can be a powerful, liberating experience.”

As Engstrom’s client learned to control his responses, he began reporting a decrease in pain following the relaxation exercises.

Engstrom also used cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) methods, including asking the man to keep a daily journal recording his pain level at different times of the day, along with his activity and mood. Through the journal, the man started recognizing that his pain level wasn’t constant. Instead, it varied and was influenced by what he was doing and thinking at the time.

Engstrom highly recommends CBT for pain treatment because it helps provide pain relief in several ways. “First, it changes the way people view their pain,” he says. “CBT can change the thoughts, emotions and behaviors related to pain, improve coping strategies and put the discomfort in a better context. You recognize that the pain interferes less with your quality of life and, therefore, you can function better.”

In this case, the client was trapped by thoughts that “the pain will never go away” and “I’ll end up a cripple,” Engstrom says. He and the client worked on CBT exercises for several months, keeping track of and questioning the validity of such negative future thoughts. They also practiced substituting more helpful thoughts, including “I will take each day as it comes” and “I will focus on doing the best I can today.”

Chronic pain often engenders a sense of helplessness among those who experience it, Engstrom says, so CBT also helps by producing a problem-solving mindset. When clients take action, they typically feel more in control of their pain, he says.

CBT also fosters new coping skills, giving clients tools that they can use in other parts of their lives. “The tactics a client learns for pain control can help with other problems they may encounter in the future, such as depression, anxiety or stress,” Engstrom says.

Because clients can engage in CBT exercises on their own, it also fosters a sense of autonomy. Engstrom often gives clients worksheets or book chapters to review at home, allowing them to practice controlling their pain independently.

Engstrom notes that CBT can also change the physical response in the brain that makes pain worse. “Pain causes stress, and stress affects pain-control chemicals in the brain, such as norepinephrine and serotonin,” he explains. “By reducing arousal that impacts these chemicals, the body’s natural pain-relief responses may become more powerful.”

Although Engstrom acknowledges that he could not completely banish the discomfort his client felt, he was able to lessen both the sensation and perception of the man’s pain and give him tools to better manage it.

Taking away pain’s power

Mindfulness is another powerful tool for lessening the perception of pain, says licensed professional counselor (LPC) Russ Curtis, co-leader of ACA’s Interest Network for Integrated Care.

Mindfulness teaches the art of awareness without judgment, meaning that we are aware of our thoughts and feelings but can choose the ones we focus on, Curtis continues. He gives an example of how a client might learn to regard pain: “This is pain. Pain is a sensation. And sensations tend to ebb and flow and may eventually subside, even if just for a little while. I’ll breathe and get back to doing what is meaningful to me.”

Engstrom agrees. Unlike traditional painkillers, mindfulness is not intended to dull or eliminate the pain. Instead, when managing pain through the use of mindfulness-based practices, the goal is to change clients’ perception of the pain so that they suffer less, he explains.

“Suffering is not always related to pain,” Engstrom continues. “A big unsolved puzzle is how some clients can tolerate a great deal of pain without suffering, while others suffer with relatively smaller degrees of pain.”

According to Engstrom, the way that people experience pain is related not just to its intensity but also to other variables. Some of these variable include:

By helping people separate the physical sensation of pain from its other less tangible factors, mindfulness can reduce the suffering associated with pain, even if it is not possible to lessen its severity, Engstrom says.

According to Engstrom, mindfulness may also improve the psychological experience of pain by:

Decreasing repetitive thinking and reactivity

Increasing a sense of acceptance of unpleasant sensations

Improving emotional flexibility

Reducing rumination and avoidant behaviors

Increasing a sense of acceptance of the present moment

Increasing the relaxation response and decreasing stress

Curtis, an associate professor of counseling at Western Carolina University in North Carolina, suggests acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) as another technique to help guide clients’ focus away from their pain.

“ACT can help people revisit what their true values are, whether it’s being of service, having a great family life or creating art,” he notes. Encouraging clients to identify and pursue what is most important to them helps ensure that despite the pain they feel, they are still engaging in the things that give their lives meaning and not waiting for a cure before moving forward, Curtis explains.

Teamwork and support

In helping clients confront chronic pain, Curtis says, counselors should not forget their most effective weapon — the therapeutic relationship. Because living with chronic pain can be very isolating, simply sitting with clients and listening to their stories with empathy is very powerful, he says.

Counselors have the opportunity to provide the validation and support that clients with chronic pain may not be getting from the other people in their lives, says Christopher Yadron, an LPC and former private practitioner who specialized in pain management and substance abuse treatment. The sense of shame that often accompanies the experience of chronic pain can add to clients’ isolation, he says. According to Yadron, who is currently an administrator at the Betty Ford Center in Rancho Mirage, California, clients with chronic pain often fear that others will question the legitimacy of their pain — for instance, whether it is truly “bad enough” for them to need extended time off from work or to miss social occasions.

Curtis says it is important for counselors to ensure that these clients understand that the therapeutic relationship is collaborative and equal. That means that rather than simply throwing out solutions, counselors need to truly listen to these clients. This includes asking them what other methods of pain relief they have tried — such as supplements, over-the-counter painkillers, physical therapy, yoga or swimming — and what worked best for them, Curtis says.

The U.S. health care system has led many people to believe that there is a pill or surgery for every ailment, Curtis observes. This makes the provision of psychoeducation essential for clients with chronic pain. “Let them know there’s no magic bullet,” he says. Instead, he advises that counselors help clients see that relief will be incremental and that it will be delivered via multiple techniques, usually in conjunction with a team of other health professionals such as physicians and physical therapists.

Curtis, Yadron and Engstrom all agree that counselors should work in conjunction with clients’ other health care providers when trying to address the issue of chronic pain. Ultimately, however, it may be up to the counselor to put the “whole picture” together.

A 60-something female client with severe depression was referred to Engstrom from a pain clinic, where she had been diagnosed and treated for fibromyalgia. After an assessment, Engstrom could see that the woman’s depression was related to continuing pain, combined with social isolation and poor sleep patterns. The woman was unemployed, lived alone and spent most of her day worrying about whether her pain would get any better. Some of her previous doctors had not believed that fibromyalgia was a real medical concern and thus simply had dismissed her as being lonely and depressed. Despite finally receiving treatment for her fibromyalgia, the woman was still in a lot of pain when she was referred to Engstrom.

Engstrom treated the woman’s depression with CBT and taught her to practice mindfulness through breathing exercises and being present. Addressing her mood and sleep problems played a crucial role in improving her pain (insomnia is common in fibromyalgia). By dismissing the woman’s fibromyalgia diagnosis, discounting the importance of mood and not even considering the quality of her sleep, multiple doctors had failed to treat her pain.

Engstrom points out that in this case and the case of his client with lower back pain, successful treatment hinged on cognitive and behavioral factors — manifestations of pain that medical professionals often overlook.

What makes cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) such a tried-and-true, “go-to” method for professional counselors?

Ann Vernon and Kristene Doyle put it simply in the preface to their book, Cognitive Behavior Therapies: A Guidebook for Practitioners: “CBT readily lends itself to a broad array of interventions that are practical in nature and have been proven to effect change.”

Their book, recently published by the American Counseling Association, explores CBT and its many branches, from acceptance and commitment therapy to mindfulness.

Both Vernon and Doyle trained and worked with Albert Ellis, the father of what was a groundbreaking method when he introduced it in the 1950s. Ellis is considered the originator of cognitive behavioral therapy, although he used the term rational emotive therapy, and later, rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT).

Doyle is director of the Albert Ellis Institute in New York City, and Vernon is president of the institute’s board of trustees.

Q+A: Cognitive behavioral therapy

Counseling Today sent Vernon and Doyle some questions, via email, to find out more. Responses are co-written, except where noted.

In your opinion, what makes cognitive behavioral therapy a “good fit,” particularly, for professional counselors?

CBT is a good fit for professional counselors as it is evidence-based and supported by empirical research. CBT has been shown to be effective for a variety of clinical problems individuals face and work on in counseling, including anxiety, depression, eating disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), obsessive-compulsive and related disorders.

Many insurance companies are requiring short-term, evidence-based therapy in order for individuals to be reimbursed. Given the nature of today’s society, with individuals wanting results at a fast pace, CBT affords that opportunity.

In the preface, you mention that one of the goals of your book is to dispel myths and misconceptions about CBT. Can you elaborate on that – what are some common misconceptions counselors might have about CBT?

Without a doubt, the major misconception is that there is only one CBT theory, when in reality there are many different theories under the cognitive behavioral “umbrella,” as described in this book. Rational-emotive behavior therapy (REBT) was the first theory, developed by Albert Ellis in 1955 when he revolutionized the profession by being the first to break from psychoanalysis. Shortly thereafter Aaron Beck developed cognitive therapy (CT), known as cognitive behavioral therapy, which adds to the confusion about what CBT actually is!

Another myth is that the emphasis is on cognitions with very little focus on feelings. In reality, CBT theories stress that thoughts, feelings and behaviors are interconnected in that feelings and behaviors emanate from beliefs. There is a major focus on helping clients see how their thoughts impact their feelings and helping them change their thoughts in order to develop more healthy and adaptive behaviors as opposed to unhealthy, negative emotions.

Yet another myth, which relates more to REBT in particular, is that there is very little importance placed on the relationship. This myth can be traced back to Albert Ellis, who did not place as much importance on the relationship as current REBT practitioners do, in part because he did not believe that a good client-therapist relationship was sufficient [on its own] to bring about change. REBT practitioners still believe this, however, Ellis’ style was often more abrasive and confrontational. Current REBT practitioners are less confrontational, more empathic and believe strongly in the importance of a good therapeutic alliance – which they consider an integral part of this theory.

What inspired you to collaborate and create this book? What new aspects of CBT did you hope to highlight?

We were inspired to create this book because upon review of available counseling-related materials, a book solely dedicated to the different CBT approaches [written] specifically for counselors was lacking. We saw a need for a solid understanding of how similar and different the CBT approaches are, as well as how they are applied in the counseling setting.

To demonstrate the unique aspects and nuances of each of the CBT approaches, we had the authors submit a transcript of a session that brought to life the theory that was addressed in the chapter. In addition, in Chapter 9, we had all the authors address the same client, highlighting how their particular approach would be utilized in counseling. It was our intention to provide readers a crystallized perspective of each of the various CBT approaches. Finally, each chapter includes sidebars to allow readers to apply what they learned in the chapter.

Do you feel that CBT is growing in popularity, or remaining steady as a “go to” method for counselors?

CBT, in our opinion, is growing in popularity amongst counselors. At The Albert Ellis Institute, we have noticed a trend in our professional continuing education courses of mostly counselors attending with the desire of learning specific theory and applications. Given that counselors are often on the “front lines” of treatment, they are realizing CBT is not simply a series of techniques that can be applied to various problems, but rather a generic term that encompasses a variety of different approaches that all have a common theoretical foundation. As more and more counselors acquire specialized training in CBT, the conclusion is that it will continue to grow in popularity with graduate programs requiring their students to be exposed to the theory and application.

What suggestions would you have for a practitioner who has been using CBT with clients for decades? What should they keep in mind?

Counseling practitioners who have used CBT for decades must be convinced that CBT theories are empowering because while clients may not be able to change certain life circumstances, they can change the way they think and feel about them, which is the essence of CBT. They should continue to read about and employ new techniques and practices to enhance their work with clients. They should keep in mind that under the CBT umbrella there are slightly different approaches to helping clients change. This is especially true for the “third wave” of CBT theories — acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT) and mindfulness. Experienced practitioners may want to explore these theories and utilize them with clients who might be a good fit for a particular approach, thus expanding their CBT toolbox.

What suggestions would you have for a practitioner who is just starting out and is interested in using CBT with clients? What should they keep in mind?

New practitioners who are just beginning and are interested in CBT should, of course, familiarize themselves with the particular CBT theory they are most interested in learning about and practicing, understanding that CBT is the “treatment of choice” for many disorders and has wide applicability cross-culturally, as well as with children and adolescents, couples and families. In addition, practitioners in private practice or mental health settings should be aware that managed care companies are huge CBT fans because it is generally a shorter-term therapy and the focus is on goal achievement and concrete markers for change and accountability.

Another factor that both seasoned and practitioners new to CBT should consider is that while CBT is generally individualistic, practitioners need to also see clients in the context of their environment and their culture. The goal of CBT is to help clients function in their world more effectively, which may often result in social advocacy. CBT practitioners can work with clients to reduce the intensity of their negative emotions that may prevent them from being appropriately assertive in confronting injustices.

This last statement actually reflects another myth about CBT, which is that CBT therapists only focus on changing the way clients think about their circumstances, which can imply passive acceptance of the status quo. In fact, from a CBT perspective, a counselor working with an abused woman would work with her to challenge the belief that she isn’t worthy and therefore deserves the abusive treatment – and then help empower her, so she is able to effectively confront a pervasive problem that affects far too many women.

What draws you, personally, to CBT? What do you like about the method? What led you to specialize in it – and also become involved with the Albert Ellis Institute?

I (Ann Vernon) began my counseling career as an elementary school counselor who was trained in client-centered therapy. I rather quickly became disillusioned with this approach when working with young clients, because despite the fact that I listened well and the clients seemed to feel better, they really didn’t get better. So when I heard Albert Ellis speak at an ACA conference in New York [in the 1970s] and read about the training at his institute, I decided to pursue [it]. During the primary practicum I was so excited to hear Virginia Waters talk about how REBT could be adapted for children, and after her lecture I asked if she would provide feedback on a social-emotional education program I had written but wanted to adapt in order to incorporate REBT principles. With her helpful feedback, I wrote Help Yourself to a Healthier You, followed by Thinking, Feeling, and Behaving and the Passport Program.

So that really started my love affair with this theory because it was educative and skill-oriented and comprehensive – addressing feeling, thinking and behaving. I was also drawn to this method because of the emphasis on problem prevention, which was something that I readily endorsed as a school counselor. After becoming a mental health counselor working with adults as well as with young clients, I continued to find that REBT was the best “fit” for me as well as my clients.

I have been so fortunate to be a part of the Albert Ellis Institute for so many years, first as a trainee, then as a board member and now president of the Albert Ellis Institute [Board of Trustees]. It has been extremely rewarding to do training in various parts of the world and to see firsthand how influential this theory is and how it has had an incredibly positive impact on so many people, including myself!

I (Kristene Doyle) was drawn to CBT when I learned about it in undergraduate psychology classes at McGill University. The theory made sense, and I appreciated the evidence-based nature of it. When I entered my doctoral program, it had a heavy emphasis on CBT orientation. There was a close relationship between Hofstra University and The Albert Ellis Institute (AEI), and AEI was one of the internship sites available for fourth-year students.

Having the honor of the founder of CBT, Albert Ellis, be my mentor and train me has contributed to my passion of practicing a theory that has empirical support. I began my career at AEI as a doctoral student and have worked in various capacities for the past 20 years, and now serve as its director. I laugh at the letter of recommendation Dr. Ellis wrote for me when I was preparing for job applications upon graduation. Little did I know I would end up as the director [of his institute]! Furthermore, I believe in and carry out the mission of AEI, which is to promote emotional and behavioral health through research, practice, and training of mental health professionals in the use of REBT and CBT.